Red Wings coach Mike Babcock becomes part of Team Canada's political Olympic machine

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock instantly became part of Team Canada's political machine when Steve Yzerman named Babcock Hockey Canada's coach for the 2010 Olympics. Depending on who you believe, Yzerman and Babcock either made a savvy move by hiring Jacques Lemaire, or they caved to pressure to include a Francophone. Yzerman had to field questions about Dany Heatley's trade demands and Joe Sakic's playing future, and the effective size of his "orientation camp" roster.

As the Ottawa Sun's Chris Stevenson notes, Yzerman had to defend his hires--Babcock, Lemaire, Lindy Ruff, and Ken Hitchcock:

June 26, Ottawa Sun: "Canada not only has depth in players, but in the coaching staff," added Yzerman. "There was a pretty solid list that you could easily justify being on this staff. As the season wore on and the season played itself out, it became very evident to me who the most deserving and right choice for our head coach would be. We have a vision of how the Olympic team will play and the type of players we want and I'm certain Mike is the right guy to take the reins, lead this team and play the style of game that will be successful this winter in Vancouver."

Babcock, however, remained his straightforward self, in both message and describing his prescribed playing style:

Babcock led the Wings the Stanley Cup two years ago and lost Game 7 of the final against the Pittsburgh Penguins a couple of weeks ago.

The hallmark of his Wings teams has been his ability to get elite players like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk to become immersed in the team game. Get used to hearing the "200-foot game," which will be the mantra for Team Canada.

"(Babcock) doesn't want any difference in percentages in the offensive zone and the defensive zone. He wants people to understand when you're on the ice, you're expected to compete for 200 feet. No overs and no unders. It's all out, 200 feet," said Hitchcock. "It's the way Detroit plays and it's winning and he expects ever player to adhere to that. That's something that's going to be really emphasized right throughout the camp in August. There's a certain way you're expected to play and everybody is going to have to do that.

"It's easy to talk about," said Hitchcock of cultivating that kind of environment, "and friggin' hard to do."

Yzerman and Hitchcock also made sure to suggest that they'll make significant changes from Hitchcock's under-performing 2006 Olympic team, as the Toronto Star's Kevin McGran noted:

June 26, Toronto Star: Invitations to about 40 players will be sent in the next 10 days for a camp in August in Calgary. The roster will be pared to 23 by the end of December, although additions and deletions can be made right up to the eve of the Games.

Hitchcock and Yzerman both said the roster will be quite different - especially on defence - from the 2006 squad.

"Time has forced us to pick different players," said Yzerman. "Younger players have really come on."

The 46-year-old Babcock will try to become the first coach to have won gold at the world juniors (1997), world championships (2004) and Olympics. He'll do so with a team that plays a lot like the Red Wings - solid two-way play -- only more physical.

"We're going to have a lot of dimensions the Detroit Red Wings don't have, the physicality of our team should be better than the Red Wings. We want to have a puck-moving D, we want to have solid goaltending. We want to have offensive players who understand the only way you get to play offence is by playing defence first."

And, of course, Babcock and the management team had to insist that they can shut down Detroit's best players (again, as McGran noted):

June 26, Toronto Star: One of Canada's challenges will be shutting down the top stars from other countries. Some of those stars - Russia's Pavel Datsyuk, and Sweden's Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom - play for Babcock's Wings.

"Nobody knows them better," Wings GM Ken Holland said of Babcock.

Babcock also has international experience with Canada's world junior team. Babcock is the only Canadian coach to have two gold medals internationally at the junior and senior level. His world junior squad won gold in 1997 and he led the national team to gold in 2004.

"With Canada's great passion for hockey, we're able to count on a long list of quality Canadian coaches," said Yzerman.

"As the season wore on it became evident who our coach should be," said Yzerman. "It's Mike Babcock. He has experience at every level. We have a vision for how this team will play and we're cetrain Mike is the right guy to take the reins."

As the Windsor Star's Dave Waddell noted, Yzerman's "vision" for Canada came from the Red Wings' front office:

June 26, Windsor Star: "We spend a lot of time Steve Yzerman, Kenny Holland, Jim Nill, myself in Detroit just talking about hockey," Babcock said of the formation of the vision he has for Canada. "The vision of how our team and the way we think Canadian hockey should be played is a 200-foot game where guys play both ways, total pressure on offence and on defence."

Babcock talked about getting the best out of his players...

"The whole group (of coaches) oozes experience," Babcock said. "These are demanding people, they expect their people to use the whole rink to play well offensively and defensively. That's our whole plan here. We need to have a good puck-moving backend. We want to spend as little time on defence and spend a lot of time on offence. We're going to need players committed to playing without the puck, so we can play a lot with the puck."

And, in discussing his own players' performances, Babcock made it very clear that his expectations involve playing his top lines as both offensive and shut-down units:

"I've learned a ton from Yzerman, Shanahan, Chelios, Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Datsyuk," said Babcock, who is the first coach in NHL history to win 50 or more games in his first four seasons with a team. "Not only how to play the game, but how to interact and what's expected. I'm a big believer in good players want to be pushed. They want expectations on them, but they want to be on the ice. I'm not a guy who hides players. I want my best players on the ice going head-to-head. We plan to do the same thing with the Olympic team, so you have to be responsible on both ends of the rink or you can't be out there."
...
"Responsible people that can play in all situations," said Babcock of the player he's looking for. "If there's guy there for Canada that bring dimensions, a physical dimension, there's nothing wrong with having that on the fourth line or a penalty killing roll or a face-off guy. In saying that, we're not leaving off good players just to bring a dimensional guy. We want good hockey players, who process information out there; who think quickly and have good hockey sense. The tempo is going to very high and it should be exciting."

Yzerman also delivered the first "underdog" proclamation:

"We're a huge underdog here," Yzerman joked. "In their own countries (Sweden, Russia), they're expected to win. People realize these countries are good. That pressure (on the players) doesn't change whether they're playing in the NHL, internationally or the Olympics."

The Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek asked Babcock to answer a few questions, and Babcock delivered regarding leading a cast of strong personalities behind the bench (all of whom have more experience at the NHL level than Babcock himself)...

June 26, Globe and Mail: "Is there going to be a time when we disagree over a player? Absolutely. That's why it's fun. You're not surrounding yourself with people to say, 'Yes, that's a good idea.' You're looking for the debate. That's how you get better. And that's why we have strong personalities, with good experience. They're not going to give in easily - and I like that.

"We know what we need to have success. We want to play a 200-foot game. If you can't do it as a player and you've shown you can't do it over a period of time - in other words, if we can't trust you - you're not getting out there. It's simple. There'll be no trying to turn an apple into an orange. That's not going to happen."

And he admitted that he's had enough of Canadian players bringing their absolute best to every game at Joe Louis Arena in an attempt to impress Yzerman:

"I had a chance to go to the Olympic camp in Calgary [in 2001] when I was coaching in Cincinnati [in the AHL]. The tempo was so high, some players couldn't keep up. So they're going to decide who's on the team, not us. They're going to decide by how they play, not at the [orientation] camp, but on what they did in the playoffs, on what they did in the world championship, and on what they're going to do from September until they announce the club.

"Now, that's not exactly a thrill for me as the coach of the Red Wings - that every time a [visiting player] comes in, they're trying to show you something. I always said to Stevie, make sure nobody sees you when you come into the building. Even this past year, I don't need them seeing you and thinking they're trying out for the team and seeing their best effort."

The Montreal Gazette's Red Fisher offered a proper postscript:

June 26, Montreal Gazette: So who else did you expect would be named to lead Sidney Crosby & Friends into the 2010 Olympics? Barry Melrose, maybe?

The selection of Mike Babcock was engraved in stone even before the start of 2008-09. If you can name another head coach who had his Red Wings in the Presidents Cup race throughout the season despite lukewarm goaltending at best, won the Stanley Cup last season and came within inches of repeating this year, introduce him to me.

He's everything 29 other general managers dream about. Loyal to Chris Osgood when his No. 1 goaltender was messing the bed for long stretches during the season. Mr. Cool when his team ran into a few bumps on the road. Win or lose, a delight in post-game interviews particularly when everything is on the line.

My favourite Babcock sermon was delivered after his team lost Game 6 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. There he was, sitting in front of a media horde wearing a bemused expression, a twinkle in his eye and saying: "We were outplayed ... I think ... I guess ... about the first 32 minutes. They won more races and more battles, had more play, were on top of us more and kept us to the outside."

Not 30 minutes! Not 40! Thirty-two minutes! He may have been breaking up inside at the time, but he looked like a guy who didn't have a care in the world. This one is over. Nothing we can do about it. It's the next one that counts. Lovely.

That's what Canada needs in Vancouver. No sad songs. No complaints. No excuses. Babcock's players are getting a head coach who can withstand the pressure of an Olympics tournament - and they need one - all the more so because although Canada almost surely will go into it as favourites to win the gold, the reality is that Russia is likely to put a better team on the ice. At the very least, that country can put together a team as talented as Canada's.